Pelamis wave energy converter
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The Pelamis Wave Energy Converter is an emerging technology that will use the motion of ocean surface waves to create electricity. The first prototype was installed at the European Marine Energy Centre at Orkney.
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[edit] Wave farms
The first commercial wave farm using this technology was installed in 2006 off the coast of Portugal near the city of Póvoa de Varzim. This wave farm will use three Pelamis P-750 machines with a capacity of 2.25 megawatts. It is likely to be expanded to eventually provide enough power for 1,500 households. The first twelve tube sections were constructed at the Arnish manufacturing site, on the Isle of Lewis by the Scottish company Ocean Power Delivery while the remaining will be constructed in Portugal.
Funding for Scotland's first wave farm was announced by the Scottish Executive on February 22, 2007. It will be the world's largest, with a capacity of 3 MW generated by four Pelamis machines and a cost of over 4 million pounds.[1] The funding is part of a new £13 million funding package for marine power in Scotland.
[edit] Principles
The Pelamis is an attenuating wave device designed for survivability at sea rather than highly efficient energy conversion. This means that rather than absorbing all of the energy available in a wave, it converts only a portion of that energy to electricity. This is principally so that the device can survive in dangerous storm conditions which could do considerable damage to a wave device attempting to absorb all the available energy.
[edit] Operation
The Pelamis device consists of a series of semi-submerged cylindrical sections linked by hinged joints. The wave induced relative motion of these sections is resisted by hydraulic rams which pump high pressure oil through hydraulic motors via smoothing hydraulic accumulators. The hydraulic motors drive electrical generators to produce electricity, 30 of these machines can power 20,000 Scottish homes. Power from all the joints is fed down a single umbilical cable to a junction on the sea bed. Several devices can be connected together and linked to shore through a single seabed cable. Its operating efficiency is approximately 15%.
[edit] Etymology
Pelamis platurus is a yellow-bellied sea snake that lives in tropical and subtropical waters. It prefers shallow inshore waters.
